Letter: Arrogance will not lead to problem solving

The recent letter from Mr. McCreary ("At war with reality and reason" Sept. 8 Readers Write) is truly itself "at war with reality and reason."

His first point, really! … "Persons who do not read much, persons who do not think much, easily led by slogans, lies and propaganda funded by wealthy corporations…willfully ignorant." Regardless of education, how much or how little, there are really stupid people out there! Look at the huge number of reality shows that have replaced good, well-written drama on television and the "dumbing-down" of our national news media… and our students have consistently fallen down on the international scale of educational rankings for years.

"Easily led by slogans… " Oh, so true, more so of liberals than conservatives. Just look at "Hope" and "Change" and "Yes We Can!" Many have given up on "Hope" and now prefer "Change."

"Far right dragging the Republican Party off a cliff…" So a few folks in the community that he disagrees with translate into the whole Republican Party? He seems to disregard what doesn’t fit his argument and then attacks people for what they believe!

"Major consensus view of science… climate change." Science is not based on consensus, science is not an election or a political popularity contest. If science was based on consensus as defined in his letter, then Galileo and Copernicus would have been hung… By the way, look at the "cooking of the books" by these Global Warming proponents, which is still being foisted on the public.

Not being a member of the Tea Party group, I still have great respect for what they have done for our country. Many are true patriots. Allen West is a fine example, a man who stands on principle but understands the need to listen, communicate and reach a reasonable, logical decision having looked at all sides of an issue.

Having attended one of the Washington marches last fall, we found the well-behaved crowds gathered there to be outstanding, patriotic, god-fearing, outstanding Americans who actually read and understand the Constitution. Who were there to protest against government policies… assert their rights as U.S. citizens… and no trash was left on the grounds! We were proud to be a small part of an historic moment.

"The default debate…" Well, cutting spending is something we all have to do before we run out of money. Lowering tax rates on small businesses, corporations and individuals and closing certain loopholes will help spur the economy, all having been demonstrated in the past… even by JFK and Clinton! On the other hand, he seems to endorse Keynes’s macroeconomic policies which have consistently proven to be wrong, which depend on massive governmental infusions of money into the economy, including just printing more paper money, how well has been that working so far?

Those "30 years of data…" started with Reagan, and his very successful economic policies which Clinton, a brilliant man, then inherited and was fortunate to be president during a huge economic boom as a result. And then 9/11 hit and the markets fell and a long war began. Some really brainy types decided that everyone should own a home, even if they couldn’t afford it and that great notion and more started the latest economic chaos.

In regard to those "facts and reason…" he wrote about, we should all check the facts again and examine the reasons for any conclusions drawn. Arrogance and insulting condescension cannot lead to intelligent thinking and problem solving. In the end it is still opinions he is writing about. And we all have them—right, wrong, genius or plain stupid!